Larry Koopa

Larry in New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
Larry Koopa
Species	Koopa
Hair color	Blue
Eye color	Blue
Relatives	Koopalings (siblings)
Voiced by	Lani Minella (2009)
Debut	Super Mario Bros. 3

Larry Koopa is the youngest member of the Koopalings, who all act as recurring boss characters throughout the Super Mario series and servants of Bowser.

Background

Original Appearances

In Super Mario Bros. 3, he was given an airship that he used to invade Grass Land and stole the king's magic wand. The wand was used to turn the king into an animal (a dog in the original version or a Cobrat in remakes), and he acted as the game's first boss. As the first boss, he utilized a simple attack pattern of moving around, jumping and casting spells from his wand. Mario defeated him and retrieved the wand for Grass Land.

Within Super Mario World, he was instead the last Koopaling to be faced in the game. His fortress was found in the Valley of Bowser and was the last level before the Front Door of Bowser's castle. Larry's boss battle in this game was a harder version of Iggy's, in which Larry tried attacking Mario atop a small island that tipped back and forth within a pool of lava. He could spit multiple fireballs and was also aided by three Lava Bubbles periodically jumping up from the lava. To beat him, Mario had to jump on him until he fell into the lava.

Larry's next appearance was in Yoshi's Safari, where he helped Bowser steal the twelve magical crystals of Jewelry Land. Larry guarded the Diamond Crystal in the Crescent Coast and battled Mario in a robotic wheel as the fourth boss battle, only to be beaten again.

Modern Appearances

Larry and the other Koopalings were not seen again until Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, when Bowletta called them to dispose of the Mario Brothers. He was the last Koopaling to battle Mario and Luigi after his siblings failed. Larry trapped Luigi under a barrel and tried to nail Mario with fireballs, but they were deflected back at him. Larry then engaged the brothers in battle with a time limit set on a Bob-Omb. Larry put up a fight, only to be defeated once more.

The Koopalings returned again in New Super Mario Bros. Wii with revamped designs. Larry's new look sported a light blue shell, fewer fangs, and a star-shaped birthmark on his head. In this game, the Koopalings kidnapped Peach on her birthday and flew back to Koopa territory in an airship, with Bowser Jr. dropping each of the Koopalings off at fortresses along the way to slow down Mario and his allies. Larry was left at the World 1 fortress. He was visibly angered when Mario arrived and faced off against him by firing blasts from a new magic wand. After his first defeat, he escaped to the World 1 castle for a rematch, in which he received help from Kamek. The Magikoopa cast a spell that caused pieces of the floor to rise and fall, which made it harder to avoid Larry while he was spinning in his shell. Larry was still defeated again. Despite their failure, Larry and the other Koopalings returned home on foot. Having the farthest to travel, Larry arrived exhausted to find the other Koopalings tending to Bowser, only to have Bowser's Castle fall on top of them all.

In New Super Mario Bros. 2, the Koopalings worked together to kidnap Princess Peach for their father. In this installment, Larry was an optional boss, as he was the boss of the first of two secret worlds, World Mushroom (which can be unlocked while playing through the game's first world, making him potentially the second boss to be fought). He was battled in that world's castle, in a room with stone pillars that rose and fell to add complications to the battle. The shots fired by his magic wand also bounced off of the walls. Despite this, Larry was once again defeated. The Koopalings turned up again in World 6's castle, where they piled into the Koopa Clown Car and made attempts to temporarily petrify Mario with a special light that it emitted. They also used their magic wands to make Bowser gigantic after his first defeat and attempted to tow him away with the Clown Car after his next defeat, only for Bowser's weight to make them accidentally crash. They later made a similar appearance in World Star's castle, where they made another attempt to petrify Mario and made Dry Bowser grow.

Larry also appeared in New Super Mario Bros. U, in which the Koopalings all had personalized airships that had figureheads in the likeness of giant versions of their heads. After they accompanied Bowser's airship for the conquering of the Mushroom Kingdom, the airships scattered to different worlds. Larry occupied Sparkling Waters, which was one of two worlds that the player could choose as the third world to complete. To reach Larry in his airship, the Mario and/or his friends had to be fired from a cannon found at the end of his castle (Larry's Torpedo Castle in the original version or Larry's Trigger-Happy Castle in New Super Luigi U). Once again, he attacked primarily with his magic wand. This time, he was aided by three water geysers that periodically rose from the floor and acted as platforms, which made it trickier to avoid attacks and to attack him in turn. He was still defeated, and his airship was sent flying to a crash landing. At the end of the game, the Koopalings attempted to execute a getaway in Bowser's hastily-repaired airship, only for it to crash due to the weight of a giant Bowser. Instead, they ended up escaping by clinging to Bowser Junior's Junior Clown Car in a human chain.

In Dr. Mario World, a doctor version of Larry was made available as a potential playable character through the game's gacha feature starting in February 2020. The Koopalings were also added to Super Mario Maker 2 in April 2020 and were available for stages made in any style except for the Super Mario 3D World style.

Sports

The Koopalings also appeared as playable racers in Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, being unlockable characters in the former and default racers in the latter. In Mario Kart Tour, Larry was potentially available in the beta version of the game and was made available for the final version of the game in October 2019. He had to be unlocked at random through the game's gacha feature or could occasionally show up for sale at the shop (which uses coins earned in-game).

Larry was also featured as a guest character who was playable in equestrian races in Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. A Mii costume of Larry had also appeared in each game of the series starting with Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Other Appearances

Video Games

• Larry also appeared in the licensed titles Mario is Missing! and Hotel Mario as a boss alongside the other Koopalings. In Hotel Mario, he owned Larry's Chillton Hotel (an ice cave) and attacked using bombs as bowling balls.
• In the Super Smash Bros. series, Larry (along with the rest of the Koopalings) has appeared in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a playable alternate costume of Bowser Jr.. Thus, he has the same exact moves as Bowser Jr. and only attacks from the Junior Clown Car. He has also been represented by a trophy in the 3DS/Wii U game and a Fighter Spirit (which has to be bought from the Vault's shop) in Ultimate. His trophy notably describes him as the leader of the Koopalings.
• In Puzzle & Dragons: Super Mario Bros. Edition, he appeared as a boss in World 1-Castle and World-1 Airship, and he could be unlocked by beating him in the latter level. He was a Wood-attribute character.
• In Nintendo releases of Minecraft, playable skins of Larry and the other Koopalings are available as part of the Super Mario Mash-Up Pack.

Other Media

• Larry appeared with the other Koopalings in the The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3 and Super Mario World animated series, where he was known as Cheatsy Koopa, due to the fact he was constantly concocting sneaky plots and schemes. He often coordinated with his brother Kooky (Ludwig von Koopa) on such schemes.
• Larry appeared in the Mario comics published as part of the Nintendo Comics System, where he was seemingly mute and spoke using pictures that only Lemmy understood.

Canceled Appearances

• Unused sprites of Larry and the other Koopalings were found in Super Princess Peach, indicating that they were intended to appear in the game as bosses or minibosses at some point.

Trivia

• It was believed that he was named after tv host Larry King or U2 drummer Larry Mullen Jr., but the former Nintendo of America employee who named the Koopalings has stated in the interview that while the other Koopalings were named after musicians, Larry's name was decided because "he just looked like a Larry".
• The Koopalings were initially known as being Bowser's children, and Bowser Jr. was believed to be their brother when he was introduced. However, in a 2012 interview, Shigeru Miyamoto revealed that the Koopalings are not actually related to Bowser, and that Bowser Jr. is Bowser's only actual son.
• He is referenced in Super Paper Mario, where Francis lists a game called Larry Koopa: Zombie Heartbreaker (possibly a play on the Leisure Suit Larry games) on his to-get list.
• One of the challenges in the Challenge Mode of New Super Mario Bros. U is Larry's Groundless Battle, in which the player must play Larry's boss battle without touching the ground.
• In Mario Kart 8, there are also signs for a business related to him called Larry Lights, and his silhouette could be seen on some screens acting as a disc jockey.
• In Mario Tennis Aces, the Koopalings' personalized airships from New Super Mario Bros. U can be seen in the background of the Savage Sea court.